Minimalist Bible: The Covenant – The Call of Abram

Written by Chad -

God has given me the idea to pursue a personal design project of creating minimalist posters to share the awesome stories of the Bible. If you missed out on previous posters, don't worry, I have created a landing page where you can easily catch up. Check it out here.

This poster series comes from the book of Genesis. It is a story filled with tests of faith, promises and miracles. I'm excited today to reveal The Covenant: The Call of Abram, part one of an eleven part series.

The Covenant: The Call of Abram begins in Genesis 12:1-9 (NLT) which says, "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.'

So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.

Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'I will give this land to your descendants.' And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him. After that, Abram traveled south and set up camp in the hill country, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built another altar and dedicated it to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord. Then Abram continued traveling south by stages toward the Negev."

Finding My Calling

I was born and raised in a small farming community in Central Illinois. I grew up in a land full of corn fields, gravel roads and star-filled night skies. I loved the smell of cultivated dirt, the beauty of golden fields and the sound of a John Deere coming down the road. Everything about it made me want to become a farmer. It was in my bones. One morning in the summer between my junior and senior year of high school, I remember my Dad asking me during our chores if I wanted to go to college or take over the farm. I quickly answered that I wanted to run the farm. He chuckled and told me to sleep on it. A couple of days later, he asked again and I said I still wanted to take over the farm. He smiled and said, "No, you're going to college."

As I was reading the passage above about Abram, it hit me—God called this man out of nowhere to pack up his belongings and leave his hometown. He was well into his older years by this point and must have had a regular daily routine—he was 75! Before that moment, we didn't know anything about Abram's life other than his genealogy. But God knew that Abram was the perfect candidate for creating a great nation. Before that moment, I wonder if Abram felt he had a different calling in his life? Was there something he could "feel in his bones" that he was supposed to do? Maybe Abram wanted to become one of the best shepherds in the land or he desired to be the best hut builder in the desert. Whether it was taking over his father's business or starting something new, God saw something even bigger inside Abram than Abram couldn't see himself.

This point leads me back to my own story. When my Dad encouraged me to go to college instead of staying home to farm, he was seeing something inside of me that I hadn't yet seen myself. There was hidden potential and artistic ability I hadn't fully tapped into. There were life lessons I hadn't yet learned. My Dad was forward thinking, while I was only focused on what was right in front of me. I only wanted to become a farmer because it was all I knew at the time. My Dad wanted me to become someone great.

My journey as a designer has been interesting because in the beginning, I kept trying to forge my own path instead of letting God lead me. The day I truly handed over my design ability to God, I started to catch a glimpse of what He really had in store for me. He wanted to use me to help present His stories, His hope, His love and His salvation to the world in a creative, visual format. He wanted people of all walks of life to experience the Bible in new ways and to have fresh understanding of what He is saying to us through Scripture. God has shown me that your calling in life may not be that thing in front of you that you think you want. It might actually be something even more meaningful, more fulfilling and more enjoyable than anything you can imagine. It may even require a change in direction and a large step of faith. God can see the potential in us that we don't even realize exists.